


So Close

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Feels, FitzMack lite, GH-325, Gen, HYDRA betrayals, Mack hates violence, Paranoia, Reeling from betrayals, Skoulson lite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 04:06:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3636075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mack feels based on the Sneak Peek for Afterlife and the fandom hating on Mack in general, which, nope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So Close

"Pretty lady," Mack said, talking to the red vette pulled into the Bus hangar.

It was late and he looked around the hangar, checking he was alone.

Happy to get his hands on her.

It would be a nice distraction. All this stuff he was messed up in. Again.

Dammit, Bobbi.

Told himself he was done with this when their people turned on them.

How was he any different?

No, don't go there. It can't happen again. It can _never_ happen again like that.

Lola looked in pretty good shape. Maybe it was her propulsion system that was screwed up. What made her fly.

The rest was mostly on the surface.

But that stuff in the Lab. With that way back machine. And it was just what he'd been warned about. Mixing up in this alien stuff.

Problem was, these people were starting to feel like a family and something inside of him had this foolish hope, that it would all turn out okay in the end.

Fitz.

He'd been told to find possible "friendlies" inside. He found one. He liked him.

Maybe more than he should.

"No way to treat a lady," he said, putting his fingers against the bullet holes in the windshield.

Precise, too. Close grouping. Like someone was trying to take out the passengers.

He knew from Hunter talking to Skye, that something had happened between the Director, Skye and the monster that had been living in the basement.

Gone. For now.

That girl was...mysterious. The way she'd talked to the Director, guiding him through all of that with her voice.

He'd never been able to get close to her. It was like May and Trip formed a circle around her.

These people sure got up to a lot of crazy shit, and he was kind of done with crazy shit at the moment.

Not cool. He knew when he smelled a secret.

And Skye and the Director?

They had secrets.

  
#

  
"Oh, you're building Lola."

Mack looked up to see Fitz standing over him, curious.

"Yeah," he said, deep-sighing and looking down over the model. "Thought it might improve my chances at getting my hands on the real thing."

He held it up and Fitz smiled briefly, taking it from him, inspecting it.

"Coulson never lets anyone touch Lola," he said, narrowing his eyes, then pursing his lips and handing it back down to him.

Mack chuckled. "Seems that way."

"You like old stuff?" Fitz said, interrupting his thoughts, shrugging his shoulders like habit.

"I like things that are simple," Mack said, putting the toy down on the table.

"Me too," Fitz said. "But, only because I have to. I like the...complexity. Actually. At least. I did."

He gave a deep sigh and Mack got to his feet, ready for a stretch and to push this conversation the way it should go.

"I get that," Mack said, towering over the kid. "You like it, you just can't talk about it. You keep it inside."

"Yes," Fitz said, looking up at him, eyes shining.

"Me, too," Mack replied.

"You," Fitz started to fidget, moving his hands about. "Like simple or you can't talk about..."

"Both," Mack said, raising his eyebrows and the let his fingers trailing through the pieces on top of the table, thinking about his next step.

Putting this thing together. No distractions.

"What you want to do," Fitz said, leaning next to him. "Is put more area in the wheelhouse. Because, thrusters? They take up a lot of space."

Mack fought off a smile and then turned to look at Fitz.

"I like the way we work together."

"You do?" he said, meeting his eyes. "Of course..I mean, why not?" Fitz continued, clearing his throat. He pointed back towards the mini Lola, turned upside down in front of them. "And this area," he said vaguely. "...challenging."

"You think so?" Mack asked.

"Possibly," Fitz said, swallowing.

  
#

  
He couldn't do this anymore.

This alien stuff. It had taken him over.

Everything he was fighting against, and it had taken away all his will.

Trip was dead. Izzy and Idaho, too.

And Coulson? He'd had to drag him out of there.

Was Skye alive because of chance? Was he still alive because Coulson was down there with him and Skye?

He'd said some things. Almost blowing his cover.

HYDRA. Inside of SHIELD.

People he'd known for years had turned on him, like he was just an animal.

" _Mack_."

Taking a deep breath he waited. Bobbi was going to try to talk him down. Tell him that they'd get through this.

Problem was, he'd heard this before. She'd said the same thing to him _after_ SHIELD fell and they made it out alive.

"This is everything I hate," he announced, staring back at her.

She was cagey. They weren't in a safe space. Someone could be listening.

"You need to take a deep breath and focus," she started, reaching towards him.

"Don't tell me that!" he yelled back at her. "Sounds like some creepy 'you must comply' HYDRA shit."

He'd hit her, attacked her, in the temple. It wasn't him, but he still had the memory of it.

And, dammit, she knew what he could do. If he was pushed.

He hated being pushed.

Trained, just like all of them. He was a big guy and he'd always had people be afraid of what he could do. His whole damn life.

It wasn't like that. He wasn't that kind of person.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"Dammit, I don't know?" he said. "I just have to get my hands on something."

He looked down at them, clenched, thinking about how they weren't just his hands now.

"Something that makes sense."

"What about Lola?" Bobbi asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Good idea."

"Use this," Bobbi said, tilting her head towards him. "Make it mean something."

  
#

  
He felt trapped.

Had ever since that mission in Dubai.

Hunter was dragged into this, and he and Bobbi could never keep anything regular. It always got tangled.

Guy had a point about being left out in the dark.

Using Lola. Using Fitz.

All to get to Coulson.

And he'd just sent Skye off somewhere secret. Bobbi didn't tell Gonzalez the whole story, did she?  About Skye's powers.  And why Coulson couldn't stay away.  That stuff in their blood.  Why'd she leave that out?

Was Bobbi keeping secrets, too?

"It's not the first time you've taken a look under Lola's hood, is it?"

Didn't even hear him come in.

You just play your part, and I'll play mine, he thought, feeling Coulson standing behind him.

He was at the home stretch.

Had to laugh at the absurdity of it all, instead of letting it get to his nerves.

"That toy car you gave me, it's a perfect replica."

He stared down at his hands, wondering where Coulson wanted this conversation to go.

"Well, almost perfect," Coulson continued, walking around behind him to the other side of Lola's hood.

"Doesn't fly yet, sir, but I promise you," he said, wiping the grease from his hands with the rag. "I'm working on it."

"That was unfortunate," Coulson began. A hint of humor in his voice.

Not such a bad guy. Nice enough for an alien...whatever he was.

"But, that's not what I'm talking about."

Coulson sure looked the part, suit from back in the day. Levels and secrets and betrayals.

He looked up at the man for a moment, taking in his expression.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm not following," he stared back down under the hood.

"Yes you are," Coulson said. Calling him out.

Just keep moving, keep it casual. _So close_.

"I know Lola like the back of my hand, so it wasn't too hard to find once I went looking."

He started to slowly stand, thinking about how much time he had, before...

"I still haven't figured out what that component you put in there does," Coulson continued, "But, I'm having Fitz take a look now."

 _Fitz._  

His face fell. He'd wanted to explain it his own way, after. Not like this.

"You can save everyone a lot of trouble by, just, telling me what it is you're after?"


End file.
